September 4, 2022 - According to Eurostat, the average Croat moves out of their parents' home only at 33.3. Only in Portugal is the number even higher, with some 3 months difference.

As Poslovni reports, young people in Croatia, along with the Portuguese, leave their parents' "nest" the latest. They will leave the family home, on average, only at the age of 33.3. Only the Portuguese who live with their parents three months longer are worse, according to the Eurostat survey for 2021.

Unlike Croats, Portuguese, Slovaks, Greeks, and Bulgarians, countries where young people leave their parents' home on average only at 30 or older, young Swedes will leave at the age of 19. In Finland, on average, at 21.2, in Denmark at 21.3, and Estonia at 22.7.

Eurostat statistics show drastic differences between countries in leaving the family home among young people. Thus, in most countries of Western and Northern Europe, on average, young people leave their parents in their early or mid-20s. On the other hand, in southern and eastern countries, this average rises to the late 20s or early 30s.

Nikola Baketa, a research associate from the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, states that there are several reasons why young Croats leave their parents' homes late, but the main ones are economic.

"There are several aspects. The first is employment. Young people are more likely to work on a fixed-term basis and are paid less, which affects the safety and security of work. In such a working relationship, it is difficult to get a loan, which is necessary for buying real estate", says Baketa, adding that the purchase of real estate is another problem that causes young people in Croatia to leave their parents’ homes only after 30.

"Real estate and rental prices in Croatia are high. In addition, the rent is irregular. In Croatia, there are no long-term rental policies or affordable city apartments that would make it easier for young people to become independent", he points out.

And the authorities do not seem to care, as demonstrated by the fact that since 2017, when the National Youth Program expired, they have not bothered to bring a new one. That would at least declaratively show how the state plans to ease the position of this very heterogeneous group.

The consequences are becoming apparent, as fewer and fewer people remain in Croatia, and it is the young who most often leave the country.

Interestingly, statistics show that men in the European Union leave the family home later than women. On average, they are 27.4 years old, and women are 25.5 years old. This trend is present in all countries, say European statisticians.

Baketa assumes that this is because women get married and leave their homes earlier. But as he points out, this is only an assumption.

For more, make sure to check out our Lifestyle section.

July 25, 2022 - We could not have asked for better news to arrive in the peak season as Eurostat reveals Croatian bathing water quality is the best in Europe based on EEA data from 2021!

Eurostat (European Statistical Office), the Directorate-General of the European Commission, released data on July 4, 2022, revealing the bathing sites with excellent water quality by locality in the European Union. The data was taken from the European Environment Agency (EEA).

"The indicator measures the number and proportion of coastal and inland bathing sites with excellent water quality. The indicator assessment is based on microbiological parameters (intestinal enterococci and Escherichia coli). The new Bathing Water Directive requires the Member States to identify and assess the quality of all inland and marine bathing waters and to classify these waters as ‘poor,’ ‘sufficient,’ ‘good,’ or ‘excellent,’" reads the Eurostat website. 

Looking at 27 European Union countries, excluding the landlocked Czech Republic, Luxemburg, Hungary, Austria, and Slovakia, Croatia tops the list, recording bathing sites with an impressively high water quality of 99.2% in 2021. 

In second place is Malta with 96.6%, Greece in third with 95.8%, and Slovenia in fourth with 95.2. 

In 2020, Croatia lost out to Cyrpus, which recorded a perfect water quality score of 100%, though Croatia did come in second with 98.8%, followed by Greece with 97.1%. In the years prior, Croatia's bathing water quality was 98.4% in 2019, 95.6% in 2018, and 95.8% in 2017. Croatia's lowest water quality in the last decade was recorded in 2013 when it was 95.4%. And even that year, it finished 4th place! 

It is interesting to note that Italy's bathing water quality has gotten worse in 2021 - recording 88.1% in 2021 and 88.7% in 2020. Italy is just under the overall EU average for bathing water quality, which is 88.3%.

You can find all the data on the bathing water quality in Europe on the Eurostat website. 

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 8 July 2022 - Real estate prices in the European Union and the euro area in Q1 2022 saw the highest increase in more than 15 years, and in Croatia their growth was above the European average, a report by the European statistical office has shown on Friday.

In Q1 2022, real estate prices in the EU rose by 10.5% year-on-year, the largest increase since the end of 2006. At the end of 2021, they went up by 10.1%.

In the euro area, real estate prices rose by 9.8% in Q1 2022, which is the largest increase since 2005, when Eurostat started publishing data. In Q4 2021, the prices went up by 9.4%.

All EU member states, for which data were available, saw a year-on-year increase in prices in Q1 2022, and 17 of them saw a two-digit growth rate.

Real estate prices increased the most in the Czech Republic (+24.7%), followed by Estonia (+21%) and Hungary (+20.6%).

In Croatia, real estate prices went up by 13.5% y-o-y in Q1 2022. In Q4 2021, they increased by 9.1% y-o-y.

The increase in real estate prices was the smallest in Cyprus (+1.1%), followed by Finland (+4.3%) and Italy (+4.6%).

Eurostat did not have the data on Greece.

Acceleration in Croatia

In the period from January to March, price growth in the EU was stable, 2.1%.

In the euro area, it slightly decelerated, from 1.9% in the last three months of 2021, to 1.7% at the beginning of this year.

All members saw a quarterly increase in real estate prices, with Estonia recording the largest increase (+7.1%), followed by Hungary (+6.7%) and Bulgaria (+5.2%).

In Croatia, real estate prices in Q1 2022 rose by 5% from Q4 2021, when they went up by 2.5%.

The smallest quarterly increase in real estate prices was registered on Malta (+0.4%), followed by Cyprus (+0.5%) and Germany (+0.8%).

ZAGREB, 29 April (2022) - In 2021 Croatia was among EU countries with the lowest level of employment, below the European average, a report by the Eurostat statistical office indicates.

In 2021, the share of employed people in the EU population was 73.1%, corresponding to 189.7 million people, up 1.4 percentage points from 2020, the first pandemic year, Eurostat said.

This was a higher rate than for the pre-pandemic year 2019, when 72.7% of the population was employed.

The employment rate in the eurozone in 2021 was 72.5%, the same as in 2019. In 2020 it was 71.2%.

Croatia with one of lowest employment rates

The highest level of employment in 2021 was registered in the Netherlands, Sweden and the Czech Republic, which had employment rates of 81.7%, 80.8% and 80% respectively.

Employment rates of below 70% were registered in Croatia, Spain, Romania, Italy and Greece.

Greece and Italy had the lowest employment rates, of 62.6% and 62.7% of the working-age population employed. 

Croatia's employment rate was 68.2%. In 2020 it was 66.9% and in 2019 it was 66.7%.

Spain had an employment rate of 67.7% in 2021.

The gap is decreasing

The majority of EU member states (16) in 2021 achieved or surpassed their 2019 employment rates, with Poland reporting the best result (+3.1 pp).

It was followed by Romania (+2 pp), and Greece and Malta (+1.8 pp each).

Croatia's employment rate increased by 1.5 percentage points compared with 2019.

Latvia is lagging behind its 2019 employment rate the most (-2.0 pp).

For more, check out our business section

February the 25th, 2022 - Croatian ecological agriculture has taken a rather unimpressive 8th place in the European Union (EU), leaving a lot of room for improvement in a sector that many now have their eyes on.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Jadranka Dozan writes, areas under organic agricultural production across the European Union (EU) are increasing from year to year, and although this trend is also being recorded here in this country, with a share of these areas in total utilised agricultural area account for (currently) ​​7.3 percent, Croatian ecological agriculture ranks at a mere 18 on the EU27 scale.

According to Eurostat, at the European Union level under organic production back in 2020, there were 14.7 million hectares or 9.1 percent of the total utilised agricultural area of the bloc.

For example, back in 2012 there were 9.5 million hectares in the function of organic production, which means that there has been a marked increase of 56 percent in just eight years, and the only EU member state in which this share has not increased at all is Poland.

By far the largest share of areas under organic production, of as much as a quarter of total agricultural in the EU has Austria, followed by Estonia (22 percent), Sweden (20 percent), Italy (16 percent) and the Czech Republic/Czechia (15 percent).

In contrast, the share is less than five percent in eight EU member states, including Bulgaria, Romania and Poland, but also Ireland and the Netherlands.

Here in Croatia, for example, back in 2013, the year in which the country joined the EU, there were 40.6 thousand hectares or 2.6 percent of the total utilised agricultural area under organic production, and back in 2020 more than 110,000 hectares compared to more than 1.5 million hectares of UKPP.

In the register of entities engaged in organic production back in 2013, there were less than 1800, and today that same register boasts 5565 such producers.

For more on Croatian ecological agriculture, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 1 Feb 2022 - The unemployment rate in the European Union as well as in the euro area fell in December and in Croatia it decreased to seven percent from 7.1% in November and 8.66% in December 2020, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on Tuesday.

"In December 2021, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.0%, down from 7.1% in November 2021 and from 8.2% in December 2020. The EU unemployment rate was 6.4% in December 2021, down from 6.5% in November 2021 and from 7.5% in December 2020."

Eurostat estimates that "13.612 million men and women in the EU, of whom 11.481 million in the euro area, were unemployed in December 2021. Compared with November 2021, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 210 000 in the EU and by 185 000 in the euro area. Compared with December 2020, unemployment decreased by 2.196 million in the EU and by 1.828 million in the euro area."

Only Spain and Greece with double-digit jobless rates

Of the 27 member states, only Spain and Greece had double-digit unemployment rates: 13% and 12.7% respectively at the end of December.

The lowest rate was in Czechia, 2.1%, followed by Poland, 2.9%, and Germany, 3.2%.

In Croatia, there were 124,000 people out if work at the end of December, or 3,000 fewer compared to November 2021, and 31,000 fewer than in December 2020.

ZAGREB, 12 May, 2021 - The European Union's industrial production stabilised in March following a decline in the previous month, while Croatia's production grew above the bloc's average rate, according to a report released by Eurostat on Wednesday.  

In March 2021, the seasonally adjusted industrial production rose by 0.6% in the EU and by 0.1% in the euro area, compared with February 2021. In February 2021, industrial production fell by 1.0% in the EU and by 1.2% in the euro area.

In both regions, the recovery was driven by production of non-durable consumer goods, which rose by 2.0% in the EU and by 1.9% in the euro area, compared with February 2021.

Production of intermediate goods rose by 1.1% in the EU and by 0.6% in the euro area. The energy sector also recorded a rise, of 1.0% in the EU and of 1.2% in the euro area.

On the other hand, production of capital goods fell by 0.4% in the EU and by 1.0% in the euro area, and production of durable consumer goods decreased by 0.3% in the EU and by 1.2% in the euro area.

Among member states for which data are available, the highest increases were registered in Denmark (+4.9%), Lithuania (+4.5%) and Bulgaria (+3.7%). The largest decreases were observed in Luxembourg (-4.4%), Belgium (-4.0%) and Finland (-2.1%). Croatia saw a monthly drop in industrial production of 3.4%.

Annual comparison

In March 2021 compared with March 2020, industrial production increased by 11.0% in the EU and by 10.9% in the euro area. In February 2021, industrial production fell by 1.4% in the EU and by 1.8% in the euro area. 

Production of durable consumer goods rose the most, by 34.4% in both regions. Production of capital goods increased by 15.9% in the EU and by 16.1% in the euro area, production of intermediate goods rose by 13.4% in the EU and by 13.3% in the euro area, production of energy went up by 2.7% in the EU and by 3.3% in the euro area, and production of non-durable consumer goods increased by 1.1% in the EU and by 0.7% in the euro area.

Among member states for which data are available, the highest increases were registered in Italy (+37.7%), Slovakia (+24.5%), Hungary and Poland (both +16.3%). Decreases were observed in Malta (-2.8%) and Finland (-2.2%). In Croatia, industrial production rose by 9.9% year on year.

For more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 12 April, 2021 - The volume of retail trade in the EU rose in February 2021 the most in Belgium, Austria and Croatia, while on average Europeans shopped less, shows a Eurostat report released on Monday.

In February 2021, the volume of retail trade in the EU dropped by 2.2% compared to February 2020. In January it was down 4.5%.

The euro area, too, saw a year-on-year drop in the volume of retail trade of 2.9%, after a 5.2% drop in January.

In both the EU and the euro area the volume of retail trade dropped the most for automotive fuels, by 11.9% and 13% respectively.

The volume of retail trade for non-food products dropped significantly as well, by 4% in the EU and by 5.5% in the euro area, the exception being the volume of trade for mail and internet orders, which jumped by 37.9% in the EU and by 37.3% in the euro area.

In February Europeans bought more only food, drinks and tobacco products, as evidenced by a year-on-year increase of the volume of retail trade of 1.8% in the EU and 1.9% in the euro area.

Belgium, Austria, Croatia report highest increases

Among the countries whose statistics were available to Eurostat, Portugal saw the biggest year-on-year drop in the volume of retail trade, of 15.4%.

It was followed by Slovakia and Malta with declines of 14.7% and 8.9% respectively.

The biggest year-on-year increase in the volume of retail trade was reported by Belgium, of 11%, followed by Austria, with an increase of 5.2% and Croatia, an increase of 5.1%.

In January 2021 Croatia saw a year-on-year 0.9% increase in the volume of retail trade.

Signs of recovery

The seasonally-adjusted volume of retail trade in the EU grew in February by 2.9% compared to January, when it dropped by 4.6%.

In the euro area it went up by 3% from January, when it dropped by 5.2%.

The volume of retail trade for non-food products grew the most in both the EU and the euro area, by 6.2% and 6.8% respectively, after it went down at the start of the year.

The volume of retail trade for automotive fuels recovered as well, by 2.4% in the EU and 3.7% in the euro area.

The volume of retail trade dropped on the month only for food and tobacco products and drinks, by 0.8% in the EU and 1.1% in the euro area.

Among the countries whose statistics were available to Eurostat, the biggest monthly increase in the volume of retail trade was reported by Austria, of 28.2%.

It was followed by Slovenia and Italy, with a 16.4% and an 8.4% increase in the volume of retail trade.

In Croatia the volume of retail trade in February grew 4.4% from January, when it rose by 3.4%.

Monthly drops in the volume of retail trade were reported by Malta (-1.5%), France (-1.2%), Hungary (-1.2%), Portugal (-0.7) and Finland (-0.4).

To read more news from Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 2 April, 2021 - Croatia is the only EU member state outside the euro area to have recorded a decrease in hourly labour costs in 2020, a Eurostat report shows.

Last year, hourly labour costs rose by an average of 3.1% in the EU and by 2.9% in the euro area.

Among the non-euro area countries, the highest increases in hourly labour costs expressed in the national currency were observed in Hungary (+7.9%), Bulgaria (+7.8%), the Czech Republic (+7.4%) and Romania (+7.2%). The lowest increases were registered in Sweden (+1.1%) and Denmark (+2.0%). 

Croatia was the only non-euro area country to see a drop in hourly labour costs (-1.0%).

Among the euro area member states, the highest increases in hourly labour costs were reported in Portugal (+8.6%), Lithuania (+7.5%) and Slovakia (7.0%). The lowest increases were observed in Luxembourg (+0.5%), Finland (+0.7%) and the Netherlands (+0.8%). Decreases were registered only in Malta (-4.7%), Cyprus (-2.7%) and Ireland (-2.7%).

Last year, the average hourly labour cost was €28.5 in the EU and €32.3 in the euro area, compared to €27.7 and €31.4 respectively in 2019.

The differences among the countries were huge, with the hourly labour costs in Bulgaria being seven times lower than those in Luxembourg.

The lowest hourly labour costs in the EU were recorded in Bulgaria (€6.5), Romania (€8) and  Hungary (€9.9). They were followed by Lithuania (€10.1), Latvia (€10.5), Croatia (€10.8) and Poland (€11).

Among the euro area countries, the lowest hourly labour costs were registered in Slovakia (€13.4), Estonia (€13.6) and Portugal (€15.3). In Slovenia and Spain these costs were around €20, while in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria they ranged between €30 and €40. The highest hourly labour costs were reported in Denmark (€45.8), Luxembourg (€42.1) and Belgium (€41.4).

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 18 March, 2021 - In the fourth quarter of 2020, hourly labour costs rose in the EU and euro area at rates that were almost twice as high as in the previous quarter, while Croatia was again among the countries that recorded declines, a Eurostat report shows.

In the 27-member EU, hourly labour costs increased by 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. In the third quarter, they increased by 1.8%.

At the same time, hourly labour costs in the euro area were 3.0% higher than in the last quarter of 2019, following a 1.6% increase in the third quarter.

The higher labour costs reflected a rise in the costs of hourly wages and salaries, while the non-wage component moderated the growth in hourly labour costs, in particular due to the tax reliefs and subsidies granted by EU governments to support enterprises affected by the coronavirus crisis.

In the EU, the costs of hourly wages and salaries increased by +3.7% in Q4 2020, following a 2.4% rise in Q3. In the euro area, the costs of wages and salaries per hour worked grew by +3.5%, after a 2.2% increase in the third quarter.

In the EU, in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the economic activities that recorded the highest increases in wage and salary costs were "Arts, entertainment and recreation" (+11.0%) and "Accommodation and food service activities" (+10.2%)

The non-wage component increased by 1.8% in the EU and by 1.5% in the euro area, following stagnation in the previous quarter.

The largest increases in hourly labour costs were recorded in Austria (+11.6%) and Bulgaria (+10.0%), while the lowest increases were observed in Hungary (+0.7%) and France (+0.3%).

Croatia, along with Ireland, Malta and Finland, had lower hourly labour costs in the fourth quarter of 2020 than in the same period in 2019. Ireland observed the largest decrease in hourly labour costs, of 4.8%.

in Croatia, hourly labour costs in Q4 2020 were 1.1% lower than in Q4 2019, while in Q3 they fell for the first time in four years, by 0.6%. In the fourth quarter, wage and salary costs fell by 0.2% and the non-wage component shrank by 6.3%, the largest decline since Q2 2016. In the third quarter, wage and salary costs rose by 0.3%, while the non-wage component fell by 5.8%.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.